Computer systems, from small handheld electronic devices to medium-sized mobile and desktop systems to large servers and workstations, are becoming increasingly pervasive in our society. Computer systems typically include one or more processors. A processor manipulates and controls the flow of data in a computer by executing instructions. Decreasing the size of the processor and reducing its power consumption lowers the cost and improves the reliability of the processor. Processor designers employ many different techniques to decrease processor size and to reduce power consumption to create less expensive and more robust computers for consumers.
Typically, for a given frequency and voltage level, circuits having larger transistors that are actively switched tend to consume more power than circuits having smaller transistors that are actively switched. Therefore, designers strive to reduce the size of actively switched transistors, such as those that are gated (or clocked) by a high frequency clock signal. These transistors include, for example, clock buffer transistors having gates coupled to one or more clock signal lines.
Unfortunately, to increase processor speed at a given voltage level, the size of transistors that drive an output line may be increased to more strongly and quickly drive the output line. Thus, there is a struggle between the need for processor designers to increase the performance of a processor and the need to reduce the size of clocked transistors to reduce power consumption. The present invention addresses this struggle.